"Please kill me now!!"

We arrived in Galway with more rain. We walked to the closest pub for some comfort food. By the time we had finished eating the rain had stopped so we went for a walk to downtown Galway - about 15 minutes. Bieing Friday night the entertainment district was buzzing with university students. They close off a couple of streets to automobile traffic over night. We walked to the Spanish Gate. This is where Christopher Columbus set sail from to discover the new world.

After a lovely breakfast, we headed for the ferry to the Aran Islands.
OMG!! The ferry ride was something else. The boat had an enclosed lower deck and an open upper deck. There were so many people onboard that some people had no choice but sit on the open deck. But once we left the cozy shelter of the harbor, the swells were about 6 feet. When we hit the first big one it sprayed water up to the upper deck and soaked everyone. People tried to scramble into the lower deck but there were no seats, so they ended up standing. It was a very rough 45 minute ride. One lady was sick. At one point she shouted "Please kill me now!" Then she lost her breakfast. Several other people looked very peaked. Maryann & I managed to keep breakfast down.
Little Red Dog spent most of the trip in the WC so I don't have any pictures of him on the boat.
We checked into our B&B and went for a walk. Ya, I know. Bob hiking again. This is getting to be a habit.

Remember I told you that we visited the smallest church in Ireland. Well, I lied. This is actually the smallest church in all of Europe. It is only 6' x 12' and was built in the 10th century.
The weather was funny! It started to drizzle while we were at the church, but ended after about 20 minutes. The wind picked up and the sun came out so we were dry by the time were back on the main road. A half hour later another 10 minutes shower. And, again, as we walked we dried out. When we got back to the B&B we were almost dry.

See that road? Believe it or not, that is a 2 way, 80 kmh road that we walked along. This is typical of the roads in Ireland. I'm actually surprised that I've gotten along so well with the driving here. There have only been a few times where I was concerned about the narrow roads. The tightest spot was on the Connor Pass on the way to Dingle.
Back in town, we saw a short fictional documentary about life on the Aran Islands that was shot in the 1930's. It was filmed with local people, not professional actors. The theatre is on the 2nd floor of a souvenir coffee shop. When we came out of the theatre, the fellow who ran the shop asked if we had any questions. When we had none he went into a long sprawling explanation about the making of the movie. We only escaped when someone came into the shop for a coffee. When we walked by the shop later in the day, this sign was in the window.

The B&B also offered horse and cart tours, so we started the second day with a ride to Dun Aenghus, the stone fortress perched on the cliff, 300 feet above the Atlantic.

Christopher & his buggy

LRD at Dun Aenghus

On the way back from the fortress we stopped at a little roadside stand. Maryann made a new friend.

After lunch we rented bicycles to tour some more of the island on our own.

We went to a really neat geological formation. Called "The Wormhole" it was formed by the tides flowing into an underwater cave and wearing away the limestone. This is a real hidden gem. Very well hidden and the path is not well marked. Fortunately, we met some people also heading there that had good directions.

It looks man made because of the straight sides and square corners. But that is a property of limestone. They held a diving competition here last year. Drivers jumped from the cliffs high above the wormhole. of course, it was sponsored by Redbull. Much to my lovely wife's dismay, I got a birds eye view.

LRD was still tired from the ferry ride so I don't have any pictures of him at the worm hole.

All that biking, hiking and touring gives you a hearty appetite so we headed for Ti Joe Watty's for fish & chips and a pint.

We met 2 nice families from Dublin who were there to visit their daughters. The girls were at an Irish school to learn traditional Irish language (Gaelic). Only well-to-do families can afford this schooling. Three weeks costs about 1000 Euro's. Of course, I had to make some balloons.

As a thank you a couple of pints arrived at our table.